News release details

–The Canadian Museum for Human Rights' 2011-12 Annual Report has been tabled in the House of Commons and is now available in both French and English on the Museum's web site.

Entitled A Canadian Journey, the report highlights key achievements from the past fiscal year including:

— Major construction milestones including completion of the building's exterior steel skeleton and glass sheathing spanning the Museum's gallery areas. One hundred percent of the physical construction of the base building has now been tendered, all major mechanical systems have been installed and permanent power has been switched on. Substantive completion of the base building, including remaining exterior stonework and interior piping and ductwork, is anticipated for late 2012 as planned.

— A concerted cost-reduction program that resulted in over $10 million in operating savings and deferments over the fiscal year, reducing the total 2011-12 operating budget to $11.7 million. The aggressive constraint was a key component of a fiscal plan to ensure the Museum could better weather any funding uncertainty prior to inauguration and meet challenges related to higher-than-anticipated costs for structural steel.

— Raising the bar for inclusive, consultative design. The Museum's Inclusive Design Advisory Council, a pan-Canadian group of experts and advisors in the field of disability rights, is now active. Believed to be unique in Canada, the new advisory council is working directly with the Museum to ensure all aspects of programming, technology design and even business practices can set a new standard for true accessibility among cultural institutions.

— New partnerships both at home and abroad. Forging strong relationships is key to the Museum's mandate to be a beacon for the advancement of human rights both across Canada and around the globe. In 2011-12 the Museum welcomed new external partners, forging alliances with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Journalists for Human Rights, the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg and others.

— A new phase of immersive, digital design. Museum content producers initiated development of games tables, "insight stations" and other interactive digital tools that will both enrich the visitor experience and redefine how Canadians think about a trip to the museum.

— Keeping Canadians informed. The Museum is accountable to all Canadians and is committed to keeping Canadians apprised about all aspects of its work. The Museum held its first Annual Public Meeting in December, initiated the posting of quarterly financial results on its web site, expanded its popular summer perimeter tour program and spoke to audiences across Canada in 2011-12, including at the University of Manitoba's Critical Conversations human rights speakers series.

The Museum also today confirmed December 6, 2012 as the date for its second annual public meeting. The meeting is an opportunity for Canadians to hear directly from the Museum's senior representatives and to participate in a question-and-answer session about all aspects of the Museum's operations. The public meeting will be held in Winnipeg at a location to be confirmed later this month, and will be webcast in real time across Canada.

Canadians can also learn more about daily life at the CMHR via newly launched tools that offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Museum's development. Exhibit research and design, construction progress and up-close insight into the work that takes place at the Museum each week are all profiled on the Museum's new weekly blog (http://humanrightsmuseum.ca/explore/blog - will open in a new tab) and expanded Facebook and Twitter streams.

Currently under construction in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first museum solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights in Canada. The Museum is the first national museum to be established in nearly a half-century and the first outside the National Capital Region. The Museum's inauguration will take place in 2014.